EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 171 



Two allied species of Pied Woodpecker have visited us from 

 the American Continent. The Hairy Woodpecker (Picus villosus) 

 is believed to have occurred twice, and the Downy Woodpecker 

 (Picas pubescens) once. 



THE LESSEE SPOTTED WOODPECKER. 

 (Picus minor.)* 

 Plate 48, Fig. 8. 



In many parts of England the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is 

 a commoner bird than the Great Spotted Woodpecker. It is 

 more often seen in small plantations ; but, strange to say, north 

 of Yorkshire it is extremely rare, and it is doubtful if it breeds 

 regularly in any part of Scotland. Its range, like that of its 

 larger ally, is Palaearctic ; but it extends somewhat further to 

 the north, and, except in the extreme west, not quite so far to 

 the south. 



It nests in holes in trees ; and though it often begins excava- 

 tions very early in the season, its eggs are not generally deposited 

 before the beginning or middle of May. The hole is made in 

 many kinds of trees and at different heights from the ground. 

 Sometimes it chooses a dead stump or the stem of an apple or 

 a pear-tree, more frequently high up in the branches of a poplar, 

 a beech, or an elm. Sometimes it bores into a pollard willow by 

 the stream, or selects a pine or birch tree for its purpose. 



The Lesser Spotted Woodpecker makes no nest ; its eggs are 

 laid on the fine powdered chips and fragments of wood left at the 

 bottom of the hole. They are from five to eight or nine in 

 number, and are pure white with a considerable amount of polish. 

 They vary in length from 082 to 07 inch, and in breadth from 

 062 to 055 inch. It is difficult to distinguish between the eggs 

 of the present species and those of the Wryneck, and they require 

 the most careful identification. On an average, however, the 

 Wryneck's eggs are larger, coarser in texture, and not so 

 glossy. 



* Dendrocopus minor — Sharpe, Handb., II., p. 12. 



